Opinion
Letters

Letters to the editor

Our readers write about Canada's payput to Omar Khadr and of the tall ships experience in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

Livid over Khadr decision

Regarding the article “Khadr to get $10.5-million apology” (Wednesday, July 7)

If I were an aboriginal Canadian who had survived the horrors of the residential schools programs that actually were the responsibility of the Canadian government, and who had received as compensation a few paltry thousand dollars, I would be outraged by the settlement that Omar Khadr is going to receive as described by your article.

As it happens, I am not aboriginal, but am still livid over this decision.

Khadr, along with his father and the rest of his family, is the author of his own misfortune. Canada did not send him to fight in the Middle East. Canada did not capture him and subject him to unreasonable detention and torture. Canada did not fill his head with the vitriolic philosophy of al-Qaida. This whole situation was purely an interaction between Khadr, his father and the United States military. Canada is not complicit in any way.

Much ado had been made of the interrogation of Khadr by Canadian intelligence officers. It is hard to imagine that a couple of milquetoast CSIS officers would be able to elicit any intelligence from Khadr that the hard-bitten American interrogators hadn’t already collected.

Should Canada have applied to the United States for early release back to Canada? Perhaps, but there is certainly no guarantee that the Americans would have complied.

I expect that this decision comes as a slap in the face to our service men and women who served on the right side in Afghanistan.

Ed Smith

Vineland

Tall ships volunteers impress

Congratulations, Niagara-on-the-Lake. I did a tour of the tall ships on Tuesday and it was so well organized and staffed by wonderful, friendly and helpful volunteers.

I don’t think I’ve ever stood in line for an event and was offered bathroom facilities and free water while waiting. The volunteers were wonderful, so friendly and courteous. Congratulations to all for a job well done.